What year what that ???
If the Queer A-6 has a MA switch and a "trigger" ... it can fire rockets.
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BOMBING'S MY BUSINESS .. and business is GOOD
- Thread starter A4sForever
- Start date
What year what that ???
If the Queer A-6 has a MA switch and a "trigger" ... it can fire rockets.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
What year what that ???
If the Queer A-6 has a MA switch and a "trigger" ... it can fire rockets.
I went thorugh advanced in 1996. Our pubs still talked about the rocket sorties, but our IPs just said "Don't bother studying that. We don't do it anymore" during our weps lecture.
I read an Approach article around that time period where a stud had an "inadvertant" rocket launch on the strafe target.
As far as the EA-6B and rockets go, I'm fairly certain that it would work, but I doubt that there is any ballistic delivery data around to do it with. Nor any reason for them to do it. In the Harrier, we don't use the trigger for rockets. Just the same old pickle button that drops bombs (and fires Mavericks for that matter). The trigger is for the gun and AIM-9s only.
My point being that, as far as rockets go, a jet is either wired for ordnance, or it isn't. There's nothing magic about the rocket pod.
JDAM, on the other hand, required specific wiring on the pylon and in the jet to work. Probably the same for HARM and AMRAAM, but I don't know.
I'm always amazed at what you Old Timers accomplished with just a slide rule and a drafting pencil. I thank my lucky stars that I have AutoCAD and MathCAD.
1996!!! That's when I checked out on the Whale as a CAPTAIN!!! You're just a KID !!!
Try 60-65 MILs @ 45 degree dive, 450 KIAS. It used to work ... unless I've gone senile... here's an ironsight to practice on ...
1996!!! That's when I checked out on the Whale as a CAPTAIN!!! You're just a KID !!!
Try 60-65 MILs @ 45 degree dive, 450 KIAS. It used to work ... unless I've gone senile... here's an ironsight to practice on ...
Is that a HUD in the picture or is it an electronic sight? I've always wondered.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
This is A4s you're talking to. He "No Habla.....HUD".
If by "electronic sight" you mean "a light bulb with concentric circles around it".......then yeah.
Not to geek out or anything (too late), but wouldn't one need to differentiate between the firing pulse for the rockets and the one to jettison the store itself? Might be an interesting question to ask an ordie, if I was interested in looking like a doofus . . . :icon_tong
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
Like I said before, I'm just guessing about this, but it's a fairly educated guess. There has to be some kind of discrete pulse that fires the HARM vice jettisoning off the rack/rail, right?
I know crap about the Prowler ordnance system, but the rocket technology is pretty old. The pylons on your jet are probably pretty similar to the A-6E, as is the weapons wiring for the wing.
I honestly don't know.
The place to find out would be with an ordie/avi dude that has some A-6 experience. Probably some chief or MSgt. There's got to be a few left around. I know that I've run into some in my community, so surely they're in yours, too.
Maybe it's even been tried before, but I doubt it.
With all of the crazy stuff that we've all been hanging off jets that nobody ever thought we would (Litening pods on P-3s, Prowlers, etc), it isn't too stupid of a question.
Hey, A4s…ever feel like a dinosaur? I know I sometimes do.
When I finally transitioned to an aircraft with a HUD, (which I could barely spell at the time) I found it mostly distracting (except for the radar slaved HUD bogie diamond, which made my 20-15 eyes on a good day – and too often augmented by my sharper-eyed ROs - to about 20-5s or even better
). However, HUD "de-clutter" was my favorite switch position. I truly missed the days of old iron gun sights, figuring out mils, and messy grease pencil marks on the canopy…. Which nevertheless granted me some very respectable CEP's and some serious HE iron on target.
Back in the day, if somebody mentioned HUD, they only meant this……
Adding rocket pod capability is straightforward on older generation aircraft (Tomcat did so in mid nineties with a $5 part from Radio Shack). The newer generation "1553" bus aircraft like the Hornet series need a bit more work on software side as aircraft literally "talks" to the store over the MIL-STD 1760 signal set wiring that has to be present on the pylon.
When Harrier II Plus adding APG-65 radar available from Hornets upgrading to APG-73, they initially thought they could hang AMRAAM on the aircraft. They could hang AMRAAM, but nothing was going to happen until they had the appropriate wiring for the digital communications to take place (same was true for F/A-18A until they became F/A-18+).
The next step in simplicity is the Sidewinder that uses a 28 pin (analog) plug that attaches to the umbillical on the LAU-7 (older generation aircraft that is; newer aircraft can use the LAU-12X series developed to carry AMRAAM and Sidewinder). On the those connector/plugs, there is a discrete signal on a specific pin that ignites the rocket motor. AMRAAM is much more complex (as is AIM-9X) and requires a mid body digital connector (LAU-12X series) so missile and aircraft can exchange data (BIT status, IMU alignment, type weapon carried, etc.). The F/A-18C/D required a Modified LAU-7 to change the forward connector on the LAU-7 to a digital plug to handle all the requisite data coming to and from the missile as well as running 1760 wiring an additional 3 feet from the outer pylons to the wingtips.
Back to Nittany's question....in that case, there is a discrete pulse to fire a single rocket or salvo or whatever the stores management system is set up to handle. To jettison a store, there is a separate "signal set" going to the parent rack to fire CADs to get rid of the store. It's a bit more complex as various aircraft are set up to jettison all stores or do it selectively via several options depending on the aircraft so in theory, you're correct, but exact answer depends on aircraft and store/pylon configuration (not to geek out or anything of course).
i suppose the more intelligent/cogent question might be "what are the different pulses sent to the store and how standard are they between ordnance types." The "can we fire rockets from this thing" is the part that I thought would be a little, umm . . . random.
You are right -- there's nothin' more satisfying than doin' "it" yourself and realizing you're at the top of your profession ...Catmando said:I truly missed the days of old iron gun sights, figuring out mils, and messy grease pencil marks on the canopy…. Which nevertheless granted me some very respectable CEP's and some serious HE iron on target.
Naaaaaa ... they're extinct. We'll never be "extinct" ... we're survivors, Bruddah !!!
Read it & weep, youngsters !!
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
Hey, A4s…ever feel like a dinosaur? I know I sometimes do.
When I finally transitioned to an aircraft with a HUD, (which I could barely spell at the time) I found it mostly distracting (except for the radar slaved HUD bogie diamond, which made my 20-15 eyes on a good day – and too often augmented by my sharper-eyed ROs - to about 20-5s or even better
I truly missed the days of old iron gun sights, figuring out mils, and messy grease pencil marks on the canopy…. Which nevertheless granted me some very respectable CEP's and some serious HE iron on target.
Back in the day, if somebody mentioned HUD, they only meant this……
In the Harrier, there are 3 HUD levels. Norm, Reject 1, and Reject 2. There is less and less symbology as you go from Norm to Reject 2. All new Harrier pilots are taught in Norm, but a few "old guys" fly/flew in Reject 1.
I have never met anybody who flew in Reject 2. In fact, several RAG studs have called base with "broken HUDs" only to find out that reseting from Reject 2 to Norm "fixed the problem".
I once asked why there even was a Reject 2, and was told that the really old guys, i.e A-4 transition guys, hated the HUD with all of that pesky gouge on it. They wanted just the basics.
Now that theory has more validity.
